All of his life, Victor Creed's struggled to tame the beast within. Much like James Howlett, Creed is a mutant who possesses a savage set of powers—Creed can rapidly heal from damage and possesses super strength, durability, agility, and a nasty set of bone claws. Unfortunately, Creed can become feral at times, killing indiscriminately and for pleasure, eventually prompting him to take on the codename Sabretooth.
A truly conflicted figure, Sabretooth's been a sadistic villain, a sympathetic loner, and a remorseful hero multiple times throughout his career. Today, we'll look at five of Victor Creed's most heinous acts as well as five of his most heroic.
10 Killing Most Of His Family (Worst)
Even in spite of his powers, Sabretooth wasn't born evil. Much of the reason he ever developed a tendency towards violence stems from his traumatic upbringing. More than a century ago, Victor Creed used to live with his family in the rural countryside. Everything changed, however, when Victor's mutant powers first manifested, inadvertently leading to the death of his brother.
Horrified, Victor's father disowned his surviving son, chained him in the cellar, and repeatedly abused him for years. The torture drove Victor over the edge, prompting him to gnaw off his hand to escape. Rather than run off, the first thing Vic did was exact revenge on his abusive parent. Later in life, Creed would express regret for this incident. But it's hard not to sympathize with Sabretooth—he was kid looking for a way out of a terrible home environment.
9 Taking Care of His Mother (Heroic)
For years, friends and associates of the Creed family believed that Victor killed all of his immediate relatives. The authorities were able to find the remains of Victor's brother. They also found what little remained of Creed's father. But no one from private eyes to US Marshals could find a trace of Victoria Creed.
In truth, Sabretooth spirited his mother away and cared for her on his own. Though Victoria Creed never stopped her husband from torturing her son, Victor always had a soft spot for her. Creed continued to care for his mother until an assassin from the Red Right-Hand organization killed Victoria in her golden years.
8 Massacring The Blackfoot Tribe (Worst)
Wary of the world thanks to his abusive childhood, Victor spent many years aimlessly roaming the U.S. Whenever someone would threaten Sabretooth or get on his bad side, their lives would get cut short—if you catch our drift. After a while, Victor became the aggressor and took to antagonizing others that he felt were weaker than himself.
One of the first groups to feel Victor's wrath was a tribe of Blackfoot Native Americans. At the time, Logan lived with the tribe and dated Silverfox. At the behest of an ancient mutant named Romulus, Creed slaughtered the small Blackfoot tribe and viscerally murdered Silverfox, kickstarting the feud between Sabretooth and Wolverine.
7 Fighting Nazis In 1959 (Heroic)
In the aftermath of his assault on the Blackfoot tribe, Victor harbored an immense amount of guilt over his past actions. To amend for his past sins, Sabretooth joined the U.S. Army and fought in the Korean War. It was on the island of Madripoor that Victor met Nick Fury for the first time.
Sensing his potential, as well as his remorse, Fury asked Creed to join one of the early Avengers teams. Their mission: stop the Red Skull from starting a Fourth Reich in 1959! Sabretooth fought alongside Fury, Kraven The Hunter, and Dum-Dum Dougan, allowing him to use his powers to do good for a change.
6 Creed's Time As 'The Slasher' (Worst)
After completing several missions with Fury's Avengers, Creed decided to step down and make amends with Logan. It took a lot of effort, but Sabretooth eventually buried their hatchets and became close friends. The two even started a small pro-mutant movement together, which helped Creed meet his first love, Holo.
Through a series of unfortunate events, Creed was forced to kill Holo in cold blood. Sabretooth snapped and gave up all attempts at becoming a better man. He teamed up with a villain named The Constrictor and started killing innocent people for sport. This murder spree earned Victor his infamous 'Slasher' alias—a name that would haunt him for years to come.
5 Reforming With Birdy's Help (Heroic)
Creed continued to hack and slash his way through history, fighting groups like the X-Men, the Marauders, and the Weapon X program along the way. All the while, dozens of innocent people continued to disappear from various cities across America. The police would eventually find their mangled carcasses, clear evidence of 'The Slasher's" handiwork.
During one of his rampages, Sabretooth met a mutant named Birdy, whose powers canceled out Creed's bloodlust. Able to think clearly for the first time in years, Victor asked Birdy to help him reform once again. Birdy helped Victor regain control of himself and his life, allowing Creed to try and move on from his violent ways.
4 Crashing Wolverine's Wedding (Worst)
Sabretooth may have washed his hands of his past, but his past wasn't done with him. Graydon Creed, the child that Victor sired with Mystique, tracked his father down and demanded to know why he abandoned him. Victor told his son that he didn't' even know he existed, accidentally enraging Graydon and causing him to kill Birdy in response.
It all went downhill once again. Sabretooth reverted to his psychopathic tendencies and sought to make others experience the same misery as himself. Wolverine was at the top of Creed's list, perhaps because Victor secretly envied Logan's ability to find happiness in ways that he couldn't. In any event, Creed crashed Wolverine's wedding to Viper, reigniting their feud far into the foreseeable future.
3 Creed's Birthday Present To Logan (Worst)
Sabretooth didn't just stop tormenting Wolverine on what should've been one of the happiest days of his life—Victor would visit James to fight him on his birthday for years! Some X-Men fans speculate that Creed fixated on Logan as a means of focusing his rage on one singular target. Thanks to his healing factor and durability, Wolverine could take Victor's abuse as opposed to the average person.
Still, Sabretooth's sick idea of a birthday gift did a number on Wolvie's psyche for a time. Whenever the calendar neared his birthday, Logan would always get on guard, preparing for a visit from Victor. Do you want to know what adds salt to the wound? Victor didn't even have the correct date marked down!
2 Joining Avengers Unity (Heroic)
After reading through this article, we've probably given the impression that Sabretooth is psychotic, mentally unstable, and petty. All of those labels definitely apply to Victor Creed, but's not a man who's beyond reproach. After Wolverine 'died' in 2014 and Red Onslaught endangered the whole mutant race, Creed examined his life.
Victor turned himself into the police and served jail time for his numerous criminal acts. In the aftermath of the World War Hate storyline, Creed was allowed to join the Avengers Unity Division—led by Captain America! Sabretooth worked with the team to help others around the world, doing his best to follow in the late Wolverine's footsteps.
1 Searching For The "Spirit Of A Wolverine" (Heroic)
When Chris Claremont and John Byrne first conceived Sabretooth, they thought of him as little more than a rival for Wolverine. But over the years, the two them added depth to Victor Creed's character. Since then, a myriad of writers and artists have worked to make Victor a conflicted man that ultimately wants to do right by others.
In a recent conversation with Wolverine (Avengers & X-Men: AXIS Vol 1 #9), Sabretooth apologized for all the Hell he raised in Logan's life. In fairness, James was skeptical of Victor's sincerity—they'd buried the hatchet before, after all. However, Creed vowed to search for the 'Spirit of the Wolverine' and overcome his dark past.